Nathan Rothstein

Co-founder of NOLA YURP, Rothstein is dedicated to helping young professionals connect and make a difference

Nathan Rothstein is the co-founder and Executive Director of the New Orleans Youth Urban Rebuilding Professional Initiative (NOLA YURP Initiative). For the past year, Rothstein has been building the largest and most diverse young professional network in New Orleans to help connect, retain and attract young people to the city.

Rothstein, a graduate of University of Massachusetts Amherst, spent his college career organizing Alternative Spring Break Programs, volunteering for different political campaigns, and teaching in local schools.

During his senior year, he spent his spring break doing disaster relief work in Gulfport, MS, which first exposed him to the devastation of the Gulf Coast. Inspired by the determination of people in the area to rebuild their homes, Rothstein decided to become an Americorps volunteer and ventured to live in New Orleans and join the rebuilding effort.

He spent the following 10 months serving for a non-profit relief organization in New Orleans' statistically poorest neighborhood, Tulane/Gravier, gutting homes, landscaping public areas, raising money for homeowners and recruiting volunteers. During his term, he facilitated discussions and workshops with many university service programs that had come to volunteer in the city. During his time there, he noticed a community that was eager for social change, but needed a way to mobilize people to work together.

To support the renewal of New Orleans, he is dedicated to helping young professionals find ways to connect with each other and find the resources they need to stay in the city.  Rothstein’s NOLA YURP Initiative is about connecting, retaining and attracting the city's young workforce, but also an example of many different communities working together to solve a problem.